ARMR HAVE A small but expanding range of budget-priced gear. They offer two versions of the Harada suit, this R (for race) and – at £50 cheaper – the C (for comfort), which basically just comes without the speed hump.

For one-piece leathers, £450 is a good price… if they’re any good. And they are.

There are two colour options for the R. This is the black/white set, and with the red, white and blue detailing and printed graphics that all adds up to a really nice looking set of leathers There’s also a full-on Power Ranger-style white version.

The cut is pretty good – if a little square around the torso – and because they’re so close fitting once you’ve squeezed yourself into them they become a second skin.

Although the are tight-fitting, your movement isn’t inhibited at all, thanks to some well placed and decent sized stretch panels in the knee, back and armpits.

On the inside you’ll find CE-approved armour, while outside you’ve got aluminium and plastic armour on the shoulders and elbows and a proper YKK zip to hold them together. I’ve not crashed in them (yet, at least), but they claim a ‘triple lock seam’ technology giving better burst resistance, and the construction

on the whole seems top notch. So I’m confident they’d do their job in the event of a big one.

Perhaps the thing that surprises me most is how incredibly light the suit feels in use. Thankfully, it’s not down to fancy or frail materials – it’s made from panels of between 1.2 and 1.4mm cowhide, as you might expect of a good set of leathers. The light feel is in part down to the great fit spreading the weight evenly across my body, but also due to the utterly insane amount of leather that’s been punched out to perforate the entire front of the suit.

On a trackday, or even a hot summer ride-out, it’s a godsend. Anything colder, though, and you’ll be wanting some good base layers.

I’ve done a few trackdays in them, and they’re plenty comfortable enough for a full day of wrestling a heavy old bike around Cadwell, but I’m totally happy walking around the paddock in them too.

There’s only one thing I can complain about really . It seems like a small issue, and I know one-piece leathers aren’t exactly renowned for their practicality, but this takes it a step too far: there are no pockets. Not one. So if like me you put your phone and credit card in your chest pocket, you’ll need a new place to keep them. LS